Saturday, July 30, 2016

Just few days after the v3 0.99 we release this new 1.01 version.
There is an arm platform specific bug in the new systemd 231-1/libseccomp that will cause delay on start due to journal flush problem. So, at the time of writing better to stay with systemd 230 and wait for a patch.

After a long pause we are back with a new RPiTC Release.
This release is compatible with RaspberryPi v2 and v3 boards only (armhf v7)Whats new on this release:
Kernel 4.4.x
Citrix Receiver 13.3.2
VMWare Horizon 4.1
NoMachine 5.1.26
Parallels 15.0-3832
Thinlinc 4.6.0-5144
Spice 3.1
FreeRDP rebuild from git 2016-06-15
RPiTC Builder 0.98
NEW: Bluetooth UI

RPiTC Builder changelog:
- Added Makefile to quick compile the RPiTC binary (read the README in the git repo)
- Switched to QT5
- Added new tab: Hardware
This tab contain all the RaspberryPi hardware specific switch for the integrated Raspberry hardware like Bluetooth/WLAN adapters and the overclock feature.

Note from the authors:
- For bug related to packages, RPiTC builder and hardware support please use the git repo for RPiTC Builder Project. For other request use the forum.
- There is no .deb package for the Horizon client, stop asking :)
- Old RPiTC's for Raspberry Pi1 boards are Not Secure Anymore. Please update the package repository file to standard Debian armel release or switch to RPi2/3 boards.

Monday, February 29, 2016

Four years after the launch of the first Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has just announced the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B.

What's new/What's not
The new SoC is the BCM2837, a quad-core 1.2GHz 64-bit ARMv8-A Cortex-A53 (up from a quad-core 900 MHz ARMv7 in the Pi 2).
Also the VideoCore is now clocked at 400MHz for video processing (up from 250MHz) and the 3D graphics processor running at 300MHz (up from 250MHz).
One of the most welcome changes is the addition of onboard WiFi and Bluetooth. The WiFi is compatible with 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n networks and the Bluetooth 4.1 supports BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) both are supplied by the BCM43438.
Other components are (sadly), pretty much the same as the Pi 2. 1Gb RAM, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 10/100 ethernet, HDMI port, 3.5mm analog audio and composite video jack, CSI and DSI connectors for cameras and displays, microSD slot and the same 40 GPIO pins.
A new kernel with WiFi/Bluetooth drivers is already available and at the moment the Raspberry Pi Foundation are evaluating if porting to 64bit the official NOOB OS.

New Raspberry Pi 3 on RPiTC:
- Compared with the base Raspberry Pi 2 the CPU is running at a 33% faster clock rate (1.2GHz vs 0.9GHz) the more modern core also means a more efficient instruction set (especially when performing operations on 64-bit values). I don't know if is possible to overclock the new CPU like the old Pi1/Pi2 so compared to the standard RPiTC2 v1.99 the difference in clock is just 0.1Ghz.
- VideoCore and VP higher clock will not give any performance boost to our RPiTC.
- Integrated WiFi is a good news, we spare a USB port :)
- Bluetooth is also a good addition, can't live without my all-in-one keyboard+trackpad combo :)
- 1Gb RAM is enought for RPiTC, we didn't need more in most configurations (browser like iceweasel/chromium will still suffer a lot...)
- USB 2.0 ports hub has been improved, now some power hungry devices will work, but still v2.0 not v3.0
- 10/100 ethernet, no Geth, really? Well...

Last RPiTC2 v1.99 will partially work in the new Raspberry Pi3 board. Ill release (in two weeks) a new RPiTC3 ready version fully compatible with Pi2 and Pi3. In the meanwhile if you want to test the new Pi3 with RPiTC2 you have to manually update the Kernel and the blobs files.
I have no plan to create a 64bit RPiTC OS version, at the moment most TC related client are ARMv7 only.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Starting from this release the .img file contain "just" the base OS with tuning and standard configuration. You have to use the RPiTC Builder tool (or manually if you like) to add/remove the various ThinClient related packages like Citrix, VMWare, RDP etc, other packages like wifi driver/firmware, java and services like CUPS, SSH, VNC etc

Main advantage to use this different approach is that everyone can customize their own cutted down RPiTC version with just the package/services needed. Also if there is some problem with a software we can solve it just by releasing a new RPiTC Builder version instead of a new OS (an Update Me options is already integrated)

after selecting the softwares/services click on Bash me! button. A new window will popup with the commands needed to update/remove the selected softwares/services.

Now click on "Open Xterm" and from this window execute: ./bashme.sh. (For more verbose output run: bash -x ./bashme.sh)
Also you can send and execute the builded install script to a remote client with:
sshpass -p "mypassword" ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -p 22 root@remoteClient 'bash -s' < /opt/bashme.sh
where "mypassword" is the remote client root password, "remoteClient" is the IPaddress or the FQN of the remote client.
When the script end reboot the system.

Next Major Release:
- RPiTC2 2.0 will be released when Kernel 4.4/4.5 will be ready and available for the Raspberry Pi 2 board (lot of new features are coming, amongs others, a new VC4 Video Driver: http://elinux.org/RPi_Upstreaming)